2026.02.11 Oaklawn Racing Updates

Racing Updates
Compiled by Robert Yates

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026

Search Party will be considered for a trio of Kentucky Oaks qualifying races following her narrow victory in the $300,000 Martha Washington Stakes Friday at Oaklawn, dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse said Sunday morning.

Search Party won the 1 1/16-mile Martha Washington by a neck over Newtown Pike, with Knickleandime a half-length farther back in third. Search Party was making her stakes debut after breaking her maiden by six lengths at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 27 at Oaklawn.

“Search Party ran well,” Casse said. “She overcame a little adversity. She gets herself in a little trouble because she breaks slow a lot of times.”

Casse said Search Party could make her next start in the $750,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) March 1 at Oaklawn, $1 million Fantasy Stakes (G2) March 27 at Oaklawn or the $750,000 Ashland Stakes (G1) April 3 at Keeneland. All three races are 1 1/16 miles.

Search Party races for her Kentucky breeder, Tracy Farmer, who teamed with Casse to win the 2025 Ashland with La Cara.

“I have to talk to Tracy and I want him to tell me whether he wants to aim for the Fantasy or Ashland,” Casse said. “So, he’s got to tell me which one he wants and when he tells me that, then we’ll decide. Now, I know what he’s going to say. He’s going to say: ‘Whatever you think. You’re the trainer.’ I think if we go on those lines, then we stay at Oaklawn.”

Casse said Search Party could resurface in the Honeybee, but he noted the Gun Runner filly “is the lightest of the bunch” and may need more time. The Martha Washington was originally scheduled to be run Jan. 31, but it was delayed six days because of a winter storm.

“I just don’t know,” Casse said. “You know me, I run them back. I like to run them back, but that may be a little much for her. So, we’re going to play that one by ear.”.

Casse also started Counting Stars in the Martha Washington, but she finished last of eight as the 3-5 favorite. A two-time stakes winner this season at Oaklawn, Counting Stars was essentially eased after racing within striking distance down the backstretch.

“Counting Stars, I have no idea what the heck her deal is,” Casse said. “She looked like she was in a perfect position. I was like: ‘She’s ready to pounce’ and then she just kind of stopped. She did that to us at Keeneland and I never could figure out why. What was interesting (Saturday), the day after the races, she probably felt better and acted better than all the other horses. So, I have no idea.”

Counting Stars, if all goes well, will be run in the Honeybee, Casse said.

The Honeybee will offer 105 total points (50-25-15-10-5, respectively) to its top five finishers toward starting eligibility for the Kentucky Oaks. The Fantasy and Ashland are both 200-point races, with each awarding 100 to the winner. Search Party collected 20 points for her Martha Washington victory.

Caden Arthur, who oversees Casse’s Oaklawn division, said Search Party and Counting Stars both returned to the track Tuesday morning.

Purses for the Honeybee and Fantasy were both raised to record levels after previously being worth $500,000 and $750,000, respectively. The Fantasy is the country’s most lucrative Kentucky Oaks prep race in 2026.

Back to Work for Blackout Time

Blackout Time recorded a bullet workout Wednesday morning in advance of his scheduled 3-year-old debut in the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds March 1 at Oaklawn.

Blackout Time covered five furlongs in 1:00 over a fast track during the special 10-minute workers-only period immediately after the first surface renovation break for trainer Kenny McPeek. The time equaled the fastest of 14 published at the distance.

Blackout Time worked in company with stablemate Gaming Wizard, a 3-year-old New York-bred colt who finished fourth in the Sleepy Hollow Stakes Oct. 25 at Aqueduct. Both horses worked from the five-furlong pole to the wire, with Blackout Time pulling away in the stretch following initial splits of :24.20 for a quarter-mile and :36.40 for 3 furlongs. Blackout Time galloped out 6 furlongs in 1:13. Gaming Wizard was credited with 5 furlongs in 1:01.

Blackout Time hasn’t started since a runner-up finish behind eventual 2-year-old champion Ted Noffey in the Breeders’ Futurity Stakes (G1) at 1 1/16 miles Oct. 4 at Keeneland. Blackout Time was entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) Oct. 31 at Del Mar, but he was a regulatory veterinarian scratch because of an alleged soundness issue.

A son of Not This Time, Blackout Time returned to the work tab Jan. 23 at the Fair Grounds and breezed two other times there (Jan. 30 and Thursday) before shipping to Oaklawn. Co-owner Lance Gasaway said Blackout Time is scheduled to have two more works before the Rebel.

“We are going to watch the weather,” Gasaway said in a text message Wednesday morning. “If the weather stays good, we will keep him here.”

The 1 1/16-mile Rebel is Oaklawn’s third Kentucky Derby qualifying race and will offer 105 total points (50-25-15-10-5, respectively) to its top five finishers toward starting eligibility for the first leg of the Triple Crown.

Blackout Time earned five Kentucky Derby qualifying points for his runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Futurity.

Other horses pointing for the Rebel include Silent Tactic and Strategic Risk for dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse and Honey’s to Blame for McPeek.

Strategic Risk ($250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 3) and Silent Tactic (Friday’s G3 $1 million Southwest) won Oaklawn’s first two Kentucky Derby qualifying races. Arkansas-bred Honey’s to Blame was an allowance winner Sunday at Oaklawn.

Finish Lines

Racing resumes Friday at Oaklawn. First post is 12:30 p.m. (Central). The four-day race week concludes with Monday’s special Presidents’ Day program. Oaklawn’s baseball cap giveaway promotion is also Monday. … Jockey Keith Asmussen recorded his first victory this season at Oaklawn aboard Miss Arlington ($16) in Sunday’s fifth race. Asmussen broke his pelvis in a Nov. 8 spill at Churchill Downs and resumed riding Jan. 16 at Sam Houston Race Park. Asmussen rode Miss Arlington for this father, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. … Oaklawn surpassed 100 claims at the 2025-2026 meeting Sunday, according to statistics released by the track. Through 17 days of racing, 107 claims totaled $2,566,000.